Low‐ and mid‐latitude ionospheric electric fields during the January 1984 GISMOS Campaign

Fejer, B. G.; Kelley, M. C.; Senior, C.; De la Beaujardiere, O.; Holt, J. A.; Tepley, C. A.; Burnside, R.; Abdu, M. A.; Sobral, J. H. A.; Woodman Pollitt, Ronald Francisco; Kamide, Y.; Lepping, R.

Low‐ and mid‐latitude ionospheric electric fields during the January 1984 GISMOS Campaign

Abstract

An alternative approach for estimating E region density profiles using radio occultation total electron content (ROTEC) measurements is presented. In this approach, the F region contribution to the measured ROTEC is removed using the estimated F region from an assimilative model of ionospheric density. E region density profiles are then obtained from a numerical inversion of the residual ROTEC, which is assumed to be the E region contribution to the ROTEC. The proposed technique has been applied to radio occultation measurements made by the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC), while the F region specification is obtained from the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Four-Dimensional (IDA4D) algorithm. Examples of E region profiles obtained with this approach are presented and compared with nearby radar measurements at the magnetic equator. The results indicate that accurate estimates of the E region peak height and density can be obtained with this approach. This technique may be applicable to the estimation of E region conductivities with the global coverage provided by the radio occultation measurements.

Date

1990-03

Keywords

Ionosphere , Electric fields , F Region , Plasma

Citation

Fejer, B. G., Kelley, M. C., Senior, C., De la Beaujardiere, O., Holt, J. A., Tepley, C. A., ... Lepping, R. (1990). Low‐ and mid‐latitude ionospheric electric fields during the January 1984 GISMOS Campaign. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 95 (A3), 2367-2377. https://doi.org/10.1029/JA095iA03p02367